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Growth in Ethanol Demand will have to Come from Exports

By Meghan Grebner

An ag economist says opportunity for growth in ethanol demand isn’t going to happen in the US.
Tanner Ehmke, manager of CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange, says fundamental shifts in domestic usage of gasoline will force the industry to develop new markets for ethanol.

“We have to look abroad, send it into the export market- places like Brazil and China especially. That is a gigantic market where there is opportunity. Really the focus there for ethanol is where you can grow outside of the US when we have weaker demand here in the US.”

While the coronavirus pandemic has drastically reduced the use of gasoline in the US in 2020, Ehmke does anticipate a post-COVID spike in the coming months.

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Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.